From Atisheh of Germany via Amazon.....

Heather Wayman’s Belly Dance For the Busy, Everyday Woman is designed for beginners, for women who don’t have a lot of time to devote to their practice, for women who can only do a little bit at once. And this is exactly how I worked with the program. I never did it all the way through. Instead, I made smaller programs for myself by combining the warmup, one or more segments of instruction, and the cool-down.

Before I get into the details of the DVD, let me give you the big picture. I had two big question marks going in: would this program be accessible to beginners, and would it really work around a busy schedule? My answer to both is yes. If you have never taken a bellydance class, with a little concentration you could follow Belly Dance For the Busy, Everyday Woman. But while most beginner DVDs give you a lot of moves but don’t show you how to put them together, Heather shows you just a few moves, but puts them into a basic choreography you can dance. It’s a different approach to beginner instruction, one that incorporates music and transitions, but doesn’t give you every move in the book.

As to the busy schedule, the fact that the segments are short did make me think that, okay, even though I was tired, I could just do the warmup and one segment and still have danced a bit that evening. Once I got my computer set up I tended to dance for longer than I intended, which was nice, but not always. But here was the surprise: even when I only danced a little bit, when I did make it back to class my movements were smoother, faster, better coordinated. This happened several times, and I was amazed to notice that even a short, well-structured program could make a difference to the dancing I did in class. In other words: you can do something, even when at your busiest, and most tired.

But now let’s get to the nitty gritty. Belly Dance For the Busy, Everyday Woman consists of an introductory sections, nine learning modules, and a closing section.

Introduction

Heather begins by describing the program, how to work with the DVD, and how the mirroring works. Mirroring is always important, but for a beginner choreography, even more essential. She then goes through proper dance posture. Her description is brief enough to remember, and she repeats it several times, and continues giving posture reminders throughout the program. One of the things Heather does that’s unusual for a beginner’s DVD is to explain why you should hold your knees or back in a certain way — either because it affects the look of the dance, or because it can prevent injury. Mirroring, posture, healthy movement — these things are, in my opinion, essential for beginner DVDs.

This is followed by a short warmup. While it is not particularly long, it is also not just stretches. Heather does get you moving enough to raise your heart rate, so you’re actually warmup (sic). What struck me about the warmup is that it’s all done standing, and even with the aerobic movements, can be done in a small space. Great for the home learner who doesn’t want to pull out the yoga mat or push the furniture around.

The Modules

Modules 1 to 6 help you build towards a choreography by introducing around three movements and putting them into a small combination. So, for example, module 1 introduces chest lifts, vertical chest circles, and shoulder rolls. The combo is then repeated with cues, with cues and music, then just with music. And every single one of these sections is reachable in a submenu, so if you want to practice in just one way, you can.

Heather works through the verses of the song, and includes enough repetition of combinations that you wind up covering quite a bit of the song with a few basic patterns. The music is fun, and the moves are cute and go with the music in a clear, easy to grasp way.

Especially when I began working with the program, I wondered: would a total beginner do okay with this? In a sense, it’s hard for me to tell. Heather’s descriptions of movements are very thorough, often even pointing out what muscles are used to drive a move. That can be helpful for some beginners, but others just need a lot of drilling, or more basic instruction. Shimmies definitely take a lot more time and work than they’re given here. But while this video does not offer a lot of individual drills, Heather does give a lot of tips on on typical beginner mistakes or “pitfalls”, which would allow you to self-correct.

The thing that I thought was particularly clever was to offer a choreo that has changes of direction, level, and intensity. When we first learn bellydance, we tend to do a lot of “four of this, four of that” choreographies, usually facing forward (to the mirror). It’s hard, at the start, to see how you can do interesting things with the movements. While Heather teaches a limited number of moves, she’s implicitly teaching how they can be varied and built into a dance — and I think this is really important.

The final three modules do not teach moves like the others. Module 7 focuses on Taqsim. In this section, Heather describes taqsim, and offers examples of how to dance to the taqsim beginning of the song. (The choreo lessons begin after the taqsim.) In Module 8, Heather goes through the choreography again, counting it out, then doing it with music and cues. And in Module 9, Heather goes through the combinations and moves already covered and suggests corresponding arm movements.

Special Features

Under the Special Features menu, you get a series of options. The first is a written list of the combinations. Next up is a mini-lesson on possible ending poses. From this menu you can also choose to dance along with a vide of the choreo taken from the back, or you can watch the dance as a costumed performance. And finally — a gag reel.

But wait kids, that’s not all! Heather also offers bonus content on her website that I had a peek at. This is only available if you buy the DVD from Heather’s website. It’s material that didn’t make it onto the DVD for reasons of time, and it includes:

Choreography notation in an Excel spreadsheetA stream of the edited musicDownloadable files of the individual combos from the back view into a mirror, in a loop for practiceThe same videos, but watchable in the browserA video with alternative arms and stylizations for the combosA set of bonus taqsim demonstrations to other musicOther notes

I’ve taken a live workshop with Heather and corresponded with her via email and Facebook. (And this was, by the way, a review copy I worked with.) She has a healthy dose of bellydance nerdiness, by which I mean that she thinks. This DVD shows the marks of her thinking about how to make the material useful and approachable to the beginner in every possible way — menu options for each little section, various ways to practice the full choreo, etc. I sometimes found this a bit confusing (I couldn’t quite tell why some things were modules and other things were special features), but overall, I think having a DVD with lots of different options is a Good Thing, and a great use of the technology.

The other thing I really liked, and that I very much hope other DVD producers will note, is the kind of music used in the DVD. What do I mean? Heather uses three different songs — one for warmup, one for the choreo, and one for the cool-down. All of these songs are on the same CD, Raksa With Amir: Music for Bellydance. You only need to buy one. Oh yeah, and the CD is moderately priced, is available digitally (because is a beginner really going to wait for an obscure vendor to mail them a CD?), and if you don’t want to spend nine bucks on the whole CD, you can just buy the songs individually. And the music is good. The choreo Heather teaches does not take up the whole of Halim Mix, but it occurs at the beginning, so someone looking to perform it would not have to do complicated cutting.

Is it for you?

If you are beyond the beginner stage, or are looking for a comprehensive collection of moves presented in a systematic way, this is not the DVD to challenge you in the way you want.

If you are truly a beginner, or have only done a bit of class… if you want to start putting moves together into a manageable choreography, or even learn how to modify basic moves to make them look interesting, Belly Dance For the Busy, Everyday Woman would be a good choice.Submitted via Amazon by Atisheh Bazi of Germany

From Lisa P. of New York.....

"First let me say I am a performer & teacher I like to supplement my studies with DVDs to get ideas for teaching. My own teacher has long since retired and moved. I have done this a long time but am always learning, taking classes & workshops whenever I can. Your teaching style is very similar to my own (yay! validation!) so I know you are good! But seriously, I tell my students, good teaching is good teaching, most BD teachers who know their stuff approach teaching dance in a similar way. Taking class from a variety of teachers & using DVDs helps expand your knowledge."

What I like about "Belly Dance For the Busy Everyday Woman":

Use of Middle Eastern music by Amir Sofi! as opposed to Americanized or pop - which I do like at times but very refreshing to see a basic level dvd using the "real thing"! Love love love selections chosen!

I love that there is a beautiful performance in a gorgeous costume. I really dislike instructional dvds that do not have a costumed performance. The instructor in work out gear is attractive & pleasant, an "ordinary woman" as she herself markets this, then BOOM ! in costume she looks so glamorous and vibrant in her dance, catching many subtle nuances of the music. Great to see.

Teaching style is clear, safe, & conducted in a professional manner with enthusiasm. I particularly like the use of "what not to do " with explanations of why & why not.

Musicality is explained very well, instructor clearly knows her stuff.

Combinations taught are lovely; and can be basic or embellished for more advanced. She goes over everything in extreme detail - but it is chaptered in such a way that you can pick & choose.

For me, I like that there is no spiritual or goddess-y approach. Very down to earth. Joy of movement approach.

What I don't like:

Not much, this is a well rounded dvd with LOTS of good information.

Nice explanation about why YOU can and will enjoy BD in the intro - but I wish there was some background of BD culturally or what area of the world it originated it, why so popular in US, how it got here : a bit of history.

On the whole instructor does a great job, but appears a bit stiff with the camera. Since I really like this DVD overall, I can live with that. She is relaxed in the performance section.

How do I use "Belly Dance For the Busy, Everyday Woman":

I practice along with the basics because I like the teaching approach for me to reinforce with my own students.

I practice along with the combos because I would like to teach the choreography to my students with permission!

I do the warm up & some modules & cool down for a quick workout.

I suggest watching the whole dvd from start to finish before deciding what parts to primarily use. Very informative.

How this DVD can help other women like me:

An extremely useful tool that I will recommend teachers watch

Same for students - will give the basics with info on how to embellish, safe body movement, posture, learn a fun dance. I find the information in this DVD to be "correct" so I would recommend to anyone.

[Some DVDs I like, but I have to recommend w / reservations, such as odd information here & there, bad lighting, have to tell people to ignore parts that might hurt your back, too extreme, etc}

Anything else? - I think the marketing approach instructor has chosen is fulfilled.~ Submitted by: Liesa P. of New York